His Hunting Trips
In the absence of the ablebodied men, Hochstetler was to provide for the families by procuring game. He was sent out daily to hunt, with orders to return at the close of the day if not sooner. He was given a gun, a few bullets, always counted, and a corresponding quantity of powder, with either a butcher knife or a tomahawk, but never both. On his return he was required to give an account of the ammunition used. If he did not bring home some game for every bullet used he had to explain why he missed. He desired more than a daily outfit for his escape, so he prepared a dry place in a standing hollow tree, where he daily stored away a little powder and a few bullets, which together with the outfit of that day he considered sufficient to venture the undertaking. Of course, he never saved more than one bullet in any one day and was obliged to give an evasive or misleading account.
Where Lay His Home?
But in what direction lay his home or the white settlements? and how far was he from the nearest settlements? These questions perplexed him. One day he noticed the old men explain something to the boys, using a stick with which they made rude marks in the ashes, which seemed to represent streams and mountains. He had acquired enough of the Indian language to understand they were making, in their own way, a map of the country, showing the boys where their fathers had gone murdering. He dared not show that he understood what they meant, therefore passed to fro apparently following his business, yet he managed to see them point to what seemed to represent a stream, which was called Susquehanna, another Allegheny, Monongahela, and mountains between these streams were named. It gave him a faint idea of his whereabouts and the course to pursue, as well as the distance to reach the settlements.
Taken from pp. 37, 38 of Descendants of Jacob Hochstetler, by Rev. Harvey Hostetler, D.D., 1912. This portion was prepared by William F. Hochstetler.
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